"traffic-lights system" of soil moisture

Motivation

The increased occurrence of hydro-meteorological extremes makes sustainable forest management difficult. The availability of site-specific soil moisture information is therefore of particular interest for this field of application. Existing concepts, such as the drought monitor of the UFZ (www.ufz.de/droughtmonitor) or the soil moisture simulations of the German Weather Service, are not sufficiently detailed in various areas (e.g., spatial resolution, variation soil thickness, too few locations) and thus have limited informative value. New ideas for the implementation of the area-wide available and reliable data are of high necessity. Method: In cooperation with the state-owned enterprise Sachsenforst, the chair of Meteorology develops a prototype – „Soil Moisture Traffic Light“ for the diagnosis of site-specific soil moisture in Saxony. This system is based on simulations from the water balance model LWF-BROOK90 and meteorological input data from different measuring networks. These include stations of the German Weather Service and the Saxonian state monitoring network. The integration of different measuring network data is carried out via a so-called SensorHub developed by PikoBytes GmbH.

Objectives

Create a simple and online-based indicator system that translates the complex soil water balance processes into a simple statement (traffic light) regarding water availability. • Set up a test version of the so-called „Soil Moisture traffic Light“ for different forest locations in Saxony. The traffic light is to provide daily updated soil moisture information about the current availability in the soil and support decision-making in forestry management.

Partners

• Staatbetrieb Sachsenforst
• PikoBytes GmbH